There are so many hedgehog colors that it can be hard to know where to start! Learn about the different types of colors and classes in our simple guide. From jet black to pure white, there's a hedgehog for everyone. But what do all of those colors mean? And why do hedgehogs change color anyway? This guide will answer all of your questions about hedgehog colors and explain what each one means.
There are quite a variety of hedgehog colors, ranging from Albino to Algerian Black, and we're here to hopefully break down what some of the colors and descriptions mean. First, we start with the base color. The base color is the color of the skin, mask, ears, and arms/legs.
There are an astonishing amount of hedgehog colors out there. Once you express people they usually do not trust you! Overall, there are more than ninety different hedgehog colors. Chiefly, few of them are rare and several are reasonably common.
Pygmy hedgehogs, having been domesticated for several decades now, come in a whole range of different colours and patterns, some more common than others, and ranging all the way to the pink eyed, pure white albino to the dark Algerian black and everything in between. COLOR GUIDE HEDGEHOGS COME IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT COLORS, PATTERNS AND MASKS, BELOW IS A GUIDE TO IDENTIFYING YOUR HEDGEHOG'S COLOR! *PLEASE NOTE, THERE TEND TO BE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME COLOR, HOWEVER THE ONES WE HAVE LISTED ARE THE MOST ACCURATE AND COMMONLY USED WITH US AND FELLOW BREEDERS THROUGHOUT THE US AND CANADA! From the perspective of color breeding, there are four fundamental colors of hedgehogs. Gray, Cinnamon, Chocolate, and Cinnicot.
Brown and Apricot are genetically the same as Chocolate and Cinnicot, respectively, but are extremes of a variable color expression. In general use, we call a hedgehog like the first one, who has no pigment other than in her eyes, a black eyed white. The second hedgehog, who is black and white with dark eyes, fits the pattern of leucism.
This would be called pinto (spotted). Today, we'll dive into the vibrant world of hedgehog colors, enlightening you on their fashionable quills, discussing their unique varieties, and maybe, just maybe, inspiring you to think about how your future hedgehog can become the trendsetter of your heart. Hedgehog color genetics have come a long way in just 10 years.
We currently recognize 92 colors in two distinct group classifications.